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‘We need to contain this crowd’: Shelling increases in Donbas area as Russian troops try to encircle key cities | World News


Shelling has increased in the city of Severodonetsk – one of the few areas of the Luhansk region in the Donbas still under Ukrainian government control.

Russian forces were attacking from three sides in an attempt to encircle the city and vicinity of Lysychansk, knowing that if they fell, nearly all of Luhansk would be under Russian control.

Serhiy Gaidai, governor of Luhansk, said about 50 Russian troops had reached an important highway, trying to “gain a foothold” and set up a checkpoint.

“The checkpoints have been broken, they have been thrown back … the Russian army is not in control of the route right now, but they are shelling it.”

He said Ukrainian fighters could leave “one settlement, maybe two”, but he added: “We need to win the war, not the battle”.

“It’s clear that our boys are slowly retreating to more fortified positions – we need to contain this crowd.”

Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in late February but it has been supporting separatists in the southern Donbas region since 2014.

After abandoning an attempt to capture the Ukrainian capital Kyiv in early May, it shifted its focus to the Donbas, which includes the Luhansk and Donetsk provinces.

Read more:
Severodonetsk: Fear, suspicion and division of allegiance in the city where the situation is growing out of control

In his nightly address, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said: “Ukraine will always be an independent country and it will not be broken.

“The only question is what price our people will pay for their freedom, and what price Russia will pay for this senseless war against us.”

Meanwhile, at least eight people were killed – including a 5-month-old child – and 17 were injured in shelling in Ukraine’s second largest city, Kharkiv on Thursday.

Ukraine - day 92
Picture:
The 92nd day of the war in Ukraine

In other developments:
• Ukrainian forces withdrew from Svitlodarsk and Russian warplanes occupied the local government building and raised the Soviet flag in front of the door.
• The Ukrainian military said 50 towns in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions were shelled on Thursday
• The US is considering providing Kyiv with a missile system with a range of hundreds of miles, after talking with Ukrainian officials about the risk of escalation if they attack inside Russia.
• Two Russian soldiers – Alexander Alexeevich Ivanov and Alexander Vladimirovich Bobykin – pleaded guilty in a Ukrainian court to firing missiles at civilian infrastructure. They could face up to 12 years in prison
• Finnish Prime Minister Sanna Marin became the latest European leader to travel to Ukraine on Thursday, visit the towns of Bucha and Irpin, and meet Mr. Zelenskyy in Kyiv

Mr. Zelenskyy also demanded that the West stop playing with Russia and impose tougher sanctions, expressing frustration at the speed of the European Union on a possible ban on Russian oil.

The catastrophic events that are taking place could still be stopped if the world treated the situation in Ukraine as if it were facing the same situation, if the major powers did not play with Russia but actually press for an end to the war.”

He added that Russia is receiving 1 billion euros a day from EU countries for its energy supply, and questioned why some countries were allowed to block the ban.

Any ban would require the consent of each of the 27 EU countries, but Hungary is against the idea, fearing the consequences for its economy.

“Pressure on Russia is a matter of literally saving lives,” Mr. Zelenskyy said.

“Every day of delay, weakness, various disputes or proposals to ‘pacify’ the aggressor at the cost of being a victim only means more Ukrainians being killed.”



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